Page 83 of Ride the Wave

‘Oh my God,’ I say, my body limp, my head spinning.

I reach for the hard erection in his boxers that I can feel pressed against my hip, but he stops me, breathing out and shaking his head.

‘I have to go,’ he says, his voice strained with regret.

‘What? You’re kidding. Where?’

He laughs, dipping his head to kiss me before he forces himself up from the bed. ‘Surfing, remember? You know, that big contest in Australia coming up that I have to train for. Kind of important.’

I press my palm against my forehead. ‘Oh, shit. I forgot.’

‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’

‘You fucking should.’

He chuckles again, heading to his wardrobe to grab some fresh clothes. ‘You can stay here as long as you like. In fact, feel free to stay here all day. All week. All month, whatever.’

Closing my eyes for a moment, I smile to myself, warm flutters expanding in my stomach. ‘Playing it cool, I see.’

‘I’m a surfer. I’m nothing if not cool.’

‘Uh-huh. We’ll let the readers decide on that one.’ I prop myself up on my elbows to watch him as he heads to the bathroom. ‘You got a hoodie or something I can borrow so it doesn’t look quite so obvious what’s happened here when I shamefully skuttle back to my place?’

‘Take whatever you want,’ he says, heading into the ensuite to turn on the shower before he re-appears in the doorway. ‘You look good in my clothes.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Don’t walk home in those heels; you really should be looking after your foot.’

I give him a pointed look. ‘You weren’t complaining about the heels last night.’

He grins mischievously at me. ‘No, I wasn’t. But I’d rather you gave yourself every chance of getting home in one piece since I can’t be there to make sure of it. I have some of Marina’s old flip-flops. She left them here once when a few people came back for a party – she won’t mind you borrowing them.’

‘Okay, thanks,’ I nod. ‘Once you’ve left, I’ll shower then get going.’

He groans, running a hand down his face.

‘What?’ I ask, alarmed at his reaction.

‘It was already going to be hard enough to focus on surfing well this morning,’ he says, dropping his hand to gesture at me. ‘And now I’ll have the image of you naked in my shower in my head. How am I meant to think about anything else?’

I smirk, deeply satisfied. ‘You told me, Mr Silva, that when you are out surfing those waves, you’re firmly in the present. The rest of the world disappears, right? Nothing else matters but you and the ocean. That’s what you said.’

‘Yeah, I know that’s what I said,’ he says glumly, turning round and disappearing into the bathroom. ‘But that was before last night.’

22

It takes two minutes after I’ve pressed send on my email to Toni for her to call me. I smile to myself victoriously when I see her number flash up on my screen – I knew it would be unlikely for me to be put through to her if I phoned theStudiooffice, but that as soon as she read my email, she’d want to speak to me directly.

‘Iris,’ she says when I answer, her voice full of concern, ‘what’s this about you needing another week over there? Is Leo Silva still not playing ball? You need me to get involved? Tell me if you’re really stuck and I’ll speak to Michelle’s team.’

Sitting on my balcony, I clasp the warm takeaway cup of coffee I got on the way home from Leo’s, trying not to giggle.If only she knew…

I know it’s bad, but the secrecy of what’s going on with Leo is actually wildly exciting. I think back on this morning when he pinned me up against the doorframe to kiss me and a thrilling shiver rolls down my spine.

‘No, he’s definitely… coming around,’ I say vaguely, biting back a smile.

‘Fantastic. I knew you’d be able to reel him in.’

---